KitchenAidEquipping Consumers Directly Online

Company Overview

KitchenAid provides high-performance kitchen appliances and essentials to cooking enthusiasts. The company’s products range from countertop appliances to refrigerators, cookware and more. The brand stemmed from its 1919 stand mixer and now is one of the top kitchen appliance providers in the industry. According to a 2012 survey, KitchenAid is the home kitchen appliance brand chosen most often by members of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

The Situation

As a well-known brand that’s been around for many years, KitchenAid needed to create a pleasant online shopping experience to maintain a loyal customer base. “It’s important that everything we do online – every promotion, image and everything else — is top-notch,” said Todd Ohme, KitchenAid eBusiness and digital marketing.

With the growth of e-commerce in the retail industry, KitchenAid discovered the opportunity to reach more customers through online channels and began selling on eBay and other marketplaces. After seeing success with selling a select amount of products online for several years, KitchenAid wanted to expand its e-commerce efforts. The company decided it was time to list each of its products on various marketplaces to sell directly to consumers.

As KitchenAid increased the number of product listings on marketplaces, the company struggled to manage inventory and experienced customer service issues. “We’ve had our presence on marketplaces for many years, but we really wanted to expand and list all of the parts and products we carry,” said Ohme. “We want to have the best customer service possible, but we’ve struggled with monitoring inventory on these marketplaces and making sure we don’t oversell. The more you try to take on, the more difficult it is to manage inventory, which caused some frustration for our customers.”

The Solution

KitchenAid sought out ChannelAdvisor Marketplaces to manage its marketplaces business. With ChannelAdvisor Marketplaces, KitchenAid was able to use a single inventory feed to send its products to multiple online channels. The company also could manage its entire online selling process, from product listings to order management, from a single dashboard. By using ChannelAdvisor Marketplaces, KitchenAid has more time to focus on other priorities, including customer service.

“ChannelAdvisor really helps us put all this information together in one place so we can put the focus on the consumer,” said Ohme.

The Results

With ChannelAdvisor automating the company’s inventory data, KitchenAid was aware of its stock quantities at all times and had more time to address customer needs in a timely fashion. “By finally getting all of the product feeds and inventory in a central location, we know exactly what we have to work with each day,” said Ohme. “Now we can have a tailored customer service and get right back to everyone. We’re focused on making sure that we have a one-day handling time and get the product right out to the customer if there’s a return issue.”

Additionally, KitchenAid significantly increased its product listings since implementing ChannelAdvisor Marketplaces. “We’ve created a great buying experience for the customer, and they feel great because they’re buying directly from the brand,” said Ohme. “We have ten times the SKUs out there now — everything from a thumb screw to a countertop oven. It was so easy for us to get up and running, and we immediately saw the growth.”

After experiencing great success with ChannelAdvisor, KitchenAid is assessing opportunities to launch on additional, emerging marketplaces. “The support is excellent, and I have a great relationship with my account manager,” said Ohme. “We have a presence on eBay, and now we’re going to expand onto other marketplaces. We’re ready to go on Rakuten.com Shopping.”